Unexpected Circumstances
by Gu-Brath-Faol
Summary: Rewrite. It's the typical boy likes girl, girl hates boy. But when someone starts to change, how will these feelings be affected and how will everyone react with all of these ... UNEXPECTED CIRCUMSTANCES?WARNING: CONTAINS MILD COURSE LANGUAGE!
1. New Faces, New Places

**Authors note:** Hi guys... girls... okay people! I have decided to totally re-do Unexpected Circumstances due to the fact that I wasn't really happy with some of it. So here I am back at square one, doing what I hope is a better job ... and hopefully you people will like it better then before, because I get the impression that you didn't like something about the other one. -Wipes away tear.-

It just occurred to me that I should probably tell you that I'm from Australia so the spelling of certain words will be different to that of some American or British spelling, things such as mom are spelled mum here and honor is honour, so please don't get confused. If you have any questions, just ask.

**Disclaimer:** I guess I really should say all this stuff right at the start and get it all over with. I don't own the origins of this fanfic. Most of the characters aren't mine, I did invent a few to fill in the gaps and the plot of the story is mine as well. All of the rest though is JK's

Enjoy!

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**Unexpected Circumstances**

Prologue 

Lily Marie Evans lay curled up on her bed reading a book. It was the summer holidays and the heat and humidity outside was unbearable, Lily couldn't ever remember it being as hot as this in the summers past. The street outside the Evans' house in Surry was completely deserted, any smart person stayed inside their nicely air-conditioned house. But still, being inside didn't give you much to do, and with Petunia on the phone 24-7 talking to that annoying new boyfriend of hers, you couldn't very well call up your friends to pass the time.

So Lily chose to spend her summer holiday locked up in her bedroom, re-reading all the books from the family library. Thus far she was about three-quarters of the way through. She put down the book she was reading and looked at the title on the front cover. _Wicca, by Cate Tiernan. _It was about witchcraft.

What would it be like to be witch, she mused? Imagine all the things you could do; you wouldn't have to fret about anything. Not a care in the world… although you would have to worry about dark covens and such, but normal things that normal people worry about wouldn't bother you at all. You could do just about anything. While looking back on her life, Lily wondered if all of those unexplainable things that always seemed to happen to her could be explained by magic.

Ha, if only you were so lucky. You're a klutz, that's the only plausible explanation, she thought to herself. But still, it was nice to think about all the things she could do to Petunia if she did have magic.

Lily got up and went to the window; the sun was beginning to set behind the many houses that lay in front of it. It was the end to another long day.

"Lily, Dinner!"

Turning on her heel, Lily headed for the door to her room. As she headed down the stairs she could smell grilling salmon. Lily laughed as she heard her stomach growl in anticipation of the meal awaiting her. Picking up speed, she took the last few steps toward the kitchen at a run but screeched to a stop when she heard the booming voice that could belong to none other then Vernon Dursley, Petunia's overweight boyfriend that looked like a cow. As she walked into the kitchen, she cringed at the topic he was talking to her father about.

Could that man never have a decent conversation?

Vernon Dursley was seated across from her father at the dinning table, talking - roaring more like, - about the _outrageous behaviour of the hippies._

How very interesting, Lily thought sarcastically.

"They should all be thrown in jail," he roared, thumping his beefy fist upon the table causing it to shake in an unnatural way.

"You need to lock them up like the dogs that they are. Cause nothing but trouble, they do and the way they dress is disgraceful!"

Lily walked toward her mother, while discretely rolling her eyes.

It's going to be a** long** night, she contemplated as she helped to serve the food on to the table. Siting down between her mother and Petunia she started to heap potato salad onto her plate.

After dinner Lily excused her self quite hurriedly and ran upstairs to take an extended bath, while the rest made their way into the lounge. At eleven o'clock Lily went back down stairs to say her goodnight's, before going of to bed.

When Lily walked into her room and crawled into bed, she didn't notice the letter atop her writing desk that hadn't been there before she went down to dinner.

-----------------

It was nine A.M the next morning when a cry rang out from Lily's bedroom.

This was followed by the sound of someone running up a staircase. When Rachel Evans burst into her daughters' bedroom she had expected to see her in mortal peril of some sort, not Lily standing perfectly whole in front of her writing desk with a letter in hand. Taking the letter from her daughter, she read the green cursive handwriting that said:

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.**

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards).

**Dear Miss Evans,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have received a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment, followed by a detailed map to Diagon Ally. **

**Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later then 31 July.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Mary Magnolim,**

**Deputy headmistress.**

"What kind of joke is this?" Rachel asked her daughter.

"I don't know… is it a joke? How could it be? The letter was on my writing desk this morning, and the only people who have access to this room are you, Dad and Petunia. Petunia wouldn't joke about a thing like this, you know how much she hates anything that even remotely defies normalcy; Dad on the other hand…"

"No, I don't think it was your father. He always gets this glint in his eyes when he's played a joke on someone and he was acting completely normal before he went to work this morning…"

Tap-tap

The two Evens' women turned their heads towards the direction of the sound. There, standing on the window ledge was a small tawny barn owl. Once again it taped on the window, as if asking to come in. Lily ran over toward it and threw the window open, then stepped to the side to watch the owl as it swooped inside to land gracefully upon her writing desk.

"I don't think Dad… or anyone else for that matter would go to the extent of training an owl just for a practical joke, so I guess this proves that it's not… a joke I mean, how could it be … so ahh … can I go?" Lily asked, barely suppressing her growing excitement.

"I can't see why not. I suppose we're meant to send our reply back with this owl?"

"Well how else are we going to tell the school that I'm coming? It's not as though we have an owl of our own," Lily said as she walked back toward her writing desk and pulled out a blank peace of paper from one of the draws. She started to scribble down a reply, then folding it up she gently tied it to the owl's leg. Once she'd stepped back, the owl spread its wings and immediately took flight through the open window.

"You know, I don't think Petunia's going to like this, my going to a magic school. How cool does that sound? Lily Marie Evans is going to a school for Witches and Wizards… Oh my God! That means that I must be a witch! Can you believe it? I'm a witch." Lily started screaming in excitement, and then started to dance happily around her room while she laughed gaily.

"I'm a witch … I'm a witch … I'M A WITCH!!!"

-------------

Lily gasped as she walked through the barrier separating platform 9¾ from the rest of the world. Before her stood a magnificent scarlet steam train, alongside the platform on which she stood. The platform itself was packed with people saying their goodbyes. Nearly everyone was strangely dressed, only a few feet away from her stood a woman in her early 40's, who seemed to be lecturing her son about something. What she was wearing had to have been the most outrageous outfit that Lily had ever seen.

Atop her head stood a tall purple hat with a stuffed vulture on top, her dress was long and green and the handbag she held in her left hand was red. She obviously had no clue about the laws of colour combinations. Shaking her head as she sighed, she planted a friendly smile on her face and headed down the platform in search of an empty compartment. Towards the back of the train she found what she was looking for. Lily placed her new pet Saw-Wit owl Astrix, whom she'd bought from_ Eeylops Owl Emporium_ at Diagon Alley, into the compartment first. She then proceeded to heave her trunk up the steps to the compartment.

"Do you need any help?"

Lily screamed and dropped her trunk painfully on her foot.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that." Said the girl with waist length brown hair and cobalt blue eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I would have ended up dropping it on my foot eventually anyway and your help will be very much appreciated." Lily said with a laugh.

"Oy, Jess come here and give us a hand will you," the blue-eyed girl cried, calling over a pretty girl with long black glossy hair and forest green eyes.

With the three of them working together, they soon had Lily's trunk in the compartment and put to one side.

"Thank you. I'm Lily Evans by the way."

"I'm Kyra Woodvine and this lovely lady is Jessica Handley." Leaning towards Lily, Kyra very dramatically made a pretence of whispering behind her hand, "She's a bit of a freak".

"Hey, I am not … you … you retarded little snig wort."

"Oh lovely comeback Jessica. You are just Soo Smart." Kyra said in her snooty British ladies voice.

"It's nice to meet you." Lily said to the two of them, a little unnerved by Kyra's quirky attitude, yet at the same time finding her a little funny. "Thank you again for helping me with my trunk, I don't think I ever would have gotten it into the compartment if you hadn't come along."

"It's no problem," Kyra replied, dropping her silliness.

"Hey, do you think that maybe we could share the compartment, everywhere else is bound to be full by now?"

"Sure, I wouldn't exactly want to travel alone now would I?" Lily answered with a friendly smile.

--------------

Across the corridor and three compartments down, sat two boys with their heads bowed low and close together. Both boys had messy black hair, but that was where their physical similarities ended. One boy, - whose hair was clearly messier the others – had hazel brown eyes, framed by oval spectacles and was somewhat lanky looking, whereas the other boy had a more square face, exceedingly dark brown eyes – to the point that they were almost black – and had a stronger looking build that gave testimony that the boy would defiantly be doing some major growing in the next few years.

Back and forth the two boys whispered, trying to keep down excited voices. The two were planing their first prank of the school year, the prank that was to be the first of many, many more.

"Where the hell is Remus when you need him?" Spoke the boy with the black eyes, in clear outspoken outrage.

The other boy looked toward his friend and laughed at the expression he saw on his face. "Calm down Sirius, it's not the end of the world. Remus should be here soon."

"Oh, shut up James. I want to get started with this already and I don't feel like going over all the details again when Remus finally gets here. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we start to build our reputation."

"Calm down Sirius. You're getting over excited. I swear, you'd think you were a dog or something," James' looked up at the door leading to the corridor out side with a frown on his face. "Although, it does seem strange doesn't it. It's not like Remus to be late for anything; do you think something's wrong?"

"Remus can take care of himself. Even if he is a bit of a bookworm, we made sure of that years ago, remember?"

"Yeah I guess you're right, his probably having trouble finding which compartment we're in."

At that moment the door slid open slowly, in a somewhat timid manner.

"Excuse me?" squeaked a small voice at the door. "Would I be able to sit with you, all the other compartments are full?"

"Err - sure, there's plenty of room." Said James, while quickly stuffing the plans for future pranks into a bag.

"So, what's your name and what house are you for?" asked Sirius once the boy had settled himself down next to James.

"Umm – my name is Peter Pettigrew … I'm really know what house I'll end up in, I didn't think anyone knew until they got there."

"You don't, we were just asking what house you **wanted** to be in, Sirius and I are for Gryffindor. Although Sirius will most likely end up in Slytherin, it is after all **'family tradition.' " **

"James, how many times do I have to tell you not to mention those **slime bags** in my presence?" Sirius growled.

"Probably about a million more time's before it penetrates his thick head," Spoke a boy with light brown hair and grey eyes as he entered the compartment, both his voice and expression gave the impression that he was totally fed up ... with what or whom we can only guess. Sirius laughed and rose one of his hands to high five Remus. James just scowled at the both of them, and then leaned towards his trunk and pulled out a strange looking deck of cards.

"Anyone up for a game of exploding snap?" Sirius and Remus just laughed more at James' obvious attempt to change the subject and poor little Peter had thought they'd all gone insane.

---------------

Lily walked down the main aisle of the great hall, breathing deeply to try and calm her nerves. She kept her eyes looking straight ahead of her at the Head Table but she could still feel the eyes of the rest of the school on her and those around her.

Once at the end of the aisle, Lily began to congregate with her fellow first years in front of an extremely old worn out leather hat, which was siting atop an equally battered three legged stool. The woman, who had introduced herself as Professor Magnolim, stood beside it and as she lifted the old hat with her left hand, she notified them all as to what was to happen.

So that is all I have to do? Lily thought. I just have to sit on a stool with that old hat on my head and it would tell me what house I'm best suited for? That didn't seem so bad, although it did seem a little odd.

"Ashby, Tamara!"

A short girl with blond pigtails walked hesitantly through the people in front of her, and made her way up the three steps before placing the hat on her head.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat after a moment or two.

The table at the far left of the first years erupted into cheers and clapping, as Tamara took off the hat and made her way towards it.

"Appledorf, Vanessa!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat cried. And once again the hall erupted into clapping and cheering, this time it sounded just to the right of the group.

"Brown, Sarah!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Boss, Terry" was called up next and once again the hat called out-

"SLYTHERIN!"

Lily was beginning to feel anxious. What if she was put in that awful house Slytherin? What if the other girls were put into a different house to her? She was beginning to feel as though she wouldn't be able to go through with this whole thing …

"Evans, Lily!"

Lily jumped as she heard her name. Too late for second thoughts now, she thought to her self as she briskly walked up toward the stool and sat down upon it. As soon as the hat was placed atop her head, a voice started to whisper inside her mind.

'Hmm … I see, ahh … all right yes. Yes you're definitely going to be hard to sort'. The voice seemed to be mulling over things, it was as though it were reading her mind.

'Very knowledgeable I see, but I don't think … no not for you. Unbelievably brave and very stubborn. Hmm … you also have the typical temper of a red head. There's talent here too. Yes well, there's obviously no question about it then, you're most definitely suited for ... '

"GRYIFFINDOR!"

Lily smiled as cheers arose to the left of her. She got up, gently lifting the hat from her head and handed it back to Professor Magnolim, before making her way toward her house table.

-----------------

James smiled as he heard the name of the house that Lily Evans had be chosen for. Good. There was just something about the girl that had drawn his eyes to her when they had been waiting out in the entrance hall. He'd never seen anyone like her before. She wasn't exactly the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, but there was just something about her eyes … every time he looked at her, his stomach started to do somersaults.

James looked over at Sirius, who was already siting over at the Gryffindor table. It had been priceless when the hat had called out that Sirius was in Gryffindor. James had looked over at the Slytherin table at that moment and nearly died trying not to laugh. The look on every one of their ugly faces showed complete and utter surprise, Sirius was the first of the Black family to not be put into Slytherin. It was looking at Sirius' cousinthough, Bellatrix Black, that had nearly undone James' barely controlled laughter. The look on her face had showed a mix of disgust, outrage and offence, it almost seemed as though she was about to explode. James wished she had of.

"Potter, James."

James' head whipped around in surprise, they'd certainly got down to his name rather fast. Recovering quickly, he walked towards the stool, his smile growing ever broader as he went.

'Ah ha, hello Mr Potter, I see it's now your turn to reek havoc on this school. Ahh yes, just like your father I see. Just as over confidant, hmmm … yes well. You like Miss Evans do you? Well good luck there ... Ha! You'll _**defiantly**_ need it … All right then … well naturally your house would be …'

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James laughed gaily as he walked, or more strutted toward the Gryffindor table to sit with Sirius, Remus and Peter. Things were grand, James thought to himself. Yes, nothing could make it more so.

Although, as James sat there waiting for the house selection to finish, he couldn't help thinking that Lily Evans' could most definitely accomplish in making his life just that little bit more flamboyant.

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**Authors Note: **Well that's it for this Chapter, - feedback time people, I need to be fed! Love ya!!!


	2. One Chance

**Unexpected Circumstances **

Chapter one. 

- Five years later-

It was so good to be back, sitting there at the first school feast of the year. Lily Evans was back home, and nothing could make her happier.

She was at the schools traditional opening feast, siting at the Gryffindor house table surrounded by all of her girl friends. There was Kyra and Jessica, whom she met on the school train in her first year. Then there was Hayley Penper and Lara Doolittle, whom she'd met later that night when they'd all went to bed. They were all roommates, but they were also the best of friends.

This year at Hogwarts was their sixth and second last year of school, and Lily was addiment that this was the year that James stuck up Potter was going to learn just how much she truly despised him. She had tried, repeatedly the year before, but her mistake then hade been to actually give him the time of day, to actually answer him. This year was going to be different. This year she was going to act as though he didn't exist. He was nugatory - nothing. He was no longer present in her day-to-day life.

And if that doesn't work, lily thought to herself, then I'll just have to throw him out the Gryffindor tower window. It's as simple as that. She chuckled to herself at the thought.

"What's so funny Lil's?" Jessica asked from across the table.

"Oh, just James I'm so good Potter flying through the air **without** his broomstick." She said smugly

"What?!" Lara asked in horror.

"Never mind."

"Have you seen the Marauders yet? -" started Hayley.

"As if we'd want to" Lily butted in with disgust.

"Lil's!" the other three cried in sequence.

"What! It's not my fault their all obnoxiously arrogant, stuck up, mean little pains in the butt, that..."

"Remus isn't." Lara protested.

"He has his moments."

"Lily, what's wrong … do you have your period? You do don't you? You only get this bad when you have your period." Kyra exclaimed, loud enough for people ten feet away to understand every word she said.

"No, I do not have my period! Why is it every time I get into a bad mood, you accuse me of having my period."

"My bad!" Kyra slapped herself dramatically. "You're a red head ... you can't help being a mega bitch sometimes."

Lily gaped at her brunette friend, before throwing a dinner role at her. "Be careful or mega bitch will go super-nova."

Hayley leaned over the table.

"Back on the subject of the Marauders. Have any of you seen them yet? I heard from Lisa that their gloating is bound to be far worse this year. Apparently they've gotten even sexier over the summer."

"Well that's good…" Lily said, causing the other girls to whip their heads around sharply to look at her. "Maybe they won't break as many mirrors as they did last year."

"Could you – for once - drop the sarcastic comments?" Lara sighed.

"Who said I was being sarcastic?"

"If what Lisa said is true, then I can't wait to see your face when you see them, because if they are hotter then were last year then they'd be close to being Gods by now." Hayley stated, talking over Lily.

"Alright, who are you and what do you want." Kyra said in mock fear.

"What did you do to our Hale's?" Said Jessica, following Kyra's lead.

"Peter is considered a Marauder too you know. I'd hardly ever call him a God." Lara said, rising an eyebrow at her friend.

"Yugh! It has to be out of pity." Hayley replied, after glaring at Jessica and Kyra.

"Have you totally lost your mind?" Lily blustered, finally coming out of her state of shock. "I can't believe you just used the Marauders names and Gods in the same sentence."

"Just you wait Lil's. Just you wait! I hope I'm there to see your face when you actually see them for yourself. It'll be priceless – heck I can't wait to see them for myself. Lisa said she was struck speechless"

"Will wounders never cease," Kyra said dryly.

----------------

James was seeing red everywhere, but it never turned out to be what he was looking for, or more to the point, **whom** he was looking for. He hadn't seen her back at platform 9 ¾, or on the train. He'd looked for her in the crowd waiting for the schools horseless carriages, and again in the entrance hall, but still there had been no sight of her. He was beginning to worry.

James sat down at the Gryffindor house table with complete misery. He sighed as he felt Sirius' reassuring hand pat him on the back. Great, just what he needed – pity. But that wasn't what it had been, and James soon realized this when Sirius' patting turned to shaking. He'd looked up at Sirius angrily, getting ready to yell at him when Sirius pointed towards the Great Halls main doors. James' head wiped around, and what he saw there caused both his heart and stomach to go into a marathon of summersaults.

"Lily" he whispered under his breath. He was in a state of complete and utter shock, but he wasn't the only one. Ninety percent of those in the Great Hall had descended to silence; all eyes were on Lily and her friends.

And James was not happy about it. He wanted to hex every one of those male assholes to blindness, every one of them who were looking at Lily in the wrong way. But he new that Lily would hate him all the more if he did.

He sighed once again as he thought about that. Lily hated him, he knew that. Didn't want to admit it, but he still knew it. The thought was thoroughly depressing. He didn't even know why she hated him, could only tell from her body language when he was near and the way she spoke to him, that she did. What was he going to do? He loved her. He'd realized it last year that he always had and always would.

In the beginning, he had thought it was just some silly little crush, and had gone on with his life after she had turned him down that first time he'd asked her out. He'd gone on to date other girls, but his reaction to them had never been the same as the one he had when he was around Lily. No matter what he did though, she'd always turn him down. And not very gently either.

Sighing for a third time, he began to drum his fingers on the table while he watched the timid looking first years being sorted. He could feel both Sirius and Remus' eyes on him, but chose to ignore them. He knew that they knew about his feelings for Lily, heck who didn't, except Lily of course; she chose not to believe it.

----------------

The next morning at seven A.M, Lily lay curled up in her warm bed fast asleep. All the other girls were up, with two dressed and ready to go down to breakfast, one in the shower and another in the process of dressing. Lily was not a morning person. Kyra had called her to get up three times now, but at all times Lily had just rolled over and gone back to sleep.

Desperate times call for desperate measures Kyra thought to herself once the rest of the girls were ready to head down to breakfast. Walking towards her bed stand, Kyra taped her empty glass with her wand.

"_Aqua Crustula_" she whispered and immediately her glass filled with icy cold water. Then without a moment's hesitation she tipped the water over Lily's face.

"You bitch!" Lily cried as she dived out of bed.

"Oh, dry off. I had to get you up some how, and seeing as how effective it was, I think I might use it more often."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"She dares all the time, you know that. Still, this isn't getting us any closer to having breakfast and now that you're finally up, the rest of us can go down and have some without worrying that you're going to sleep in." said Lara, with a nod of her head.

"We'll see you down there Lil's" Jessie said over at the main door of their dorm.

"Fine, whatever. I'll probably only be about fifteen minutes."

"You'd better," they all chanted as they left the room.

Lily's first stop that morning was the bathroom. She got into the shower, quickly washed her hair and then got out. She then sat down on her bed to put her hair into a tight braid while it was still wet. Once accomplished, she walked back into the bathroom to do her make up. She didn't wear much, just a little face powder, mascara and the tiniest amount of blush to bring out her high cheekbones. Pulling on her school robs, and checking herself in the mirror, she left the dorm room with three minutes to spare.

As Lily descended the stairs, she got to thinking about what Hayley had said about the Marauders. She had yet to see them this year, which was rather strange. Potter always made an attempt to ask her out before the school year had even started. If this was a preview of what the year was to be like, then things were definitely looking up. Then again, maybe they had seen each other but they both just hadn't recognised one another. Lily knew how much she had changed in the way she looked since the year before.

The sound of footsteps in front of her dragged Lily from her thoughts. It was a guy.

A guy with a **very** nice ass, she though with a cheeky grin. And his body! Merlin could he be more hot and sexy?' He was around six foot something and his muscles were just the right size – not too big and not too small, just … perfect. Or so she'd thought, but then he turned around. Obviously he'd heard her approach and when he noticed it was her, up went that **stupid** hand of his, making his black messy hair stick up even more then it had been.

"YOU!!!"

"Me??" James said quizzically, an obnoxious smirk growing on his gorgeously firm lips.

WHAT! Where had that come from? Lily thought, well and truly shocked. Oh no!

"I can't believe you, you … AHRR!"

"What have I done now?" his smirk vanished.

"I refuse to waste my time talking to the likes of you!"

"Fine don't!" his voice was beginning to rise.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Aren't you supposed to storm off at this point, a little voice inside her head whispered, but Lily's legs just weren't complying. James' right eyebrow began to rise. Was he mocking her?

"I thought you were leaving?"

Obviously he was.

"You thought wrong!"

"Oh. Well I thought that naturally being that you hate me so much, you wouldn't want to waste too much of your _**precious**_ time in my presence." James' voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"I don't!"

"Then why are you still here?"

"It's a free bloody corridor isn't it? And besides, you're standing in my way."

"Oh come on Evans, admit it. You like being in my company. If you didn't you would have simply walked around me." That obnoxious smirk was back.

Lily decided it was her turn to be sarcastic. "Oh, of course James" she said, feigning breathlessness. "I'm really secretly, desperately in love with you. I love you as much as I'd love to have a Lethifold wake me in the middle of the night." She paused before she continued. "Damn it! Why do you have to be such an ass-whole?"

Why do you have to be so damn beautiful, James thought to himself. Especially, when you're mad at me.

He sighed and stepped to the side, letting Lily pass.

"Thank you!" Lily said irritably, convincing herself that it was anger and not disappointment.

"Be it from me to stand in your way."

"What's **that** supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he sighed.

"Just stay way from me," And with that Lily finally stormed off, but she could have sworn that she'd heard him whisper as she'd left -'If only I could'- but she refused to look back at him.

----------------

"You're five minutes later then you said you'd be" Jessica said as Lily sat down next to her.

"I would have been on time but I was held up" Lily snapped.

"Oh My God! You ran into James didn't you? We saw him in the common. Isn't he gorgeous? His gotten bigger don't you think?"

"Yeah, his head has."

"His head has what?

"Gotten bigger of course. It must be all that hot air filling it up."

"WHAT!? Damn! You're not going to admit it, are you? I knew when I saw him that I should have gone back up stairs and waited for you. I never should have left your side until you'd finally seen him. Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"

"You didn't miss much," Lily said dryly.

"What happened?"

"What do **you** think? We had an argument, what else."

"_**Obviously**_! You two can't be five feet from each other without bickering. What _**else**_ could have happened?"

Lily stood up, grabbed her new timetable and swung her bag over her shoulder, "I've lost my appetite," she said almost bitterly. She then proceeded out the door of the Great Hall, getting a head start on travelling to the transfiguration classroom.

"What's with her?"

"I think James-i-boy was a bit of a shock to her, and she not happy about what she's feeling."

"This is So Great!"

Jessica sighed, "I'm glad you think so, but I'm not inclined to agree. I am after all the one who usually has to deal with that stubbornly foul temper of hers."

"But you do it **so** well," Kyra remarked.

----------------

James POV

"Just stay away from me," Lily said angrily to James before she stormed off down the corridor, heading in the direction of the Great Hall.

"If only I could." He whispered. Leaning against the wall of the corridor, he watched Lily as she walked away. Why does she hate me so much? I didn't even do anything just now and she snapped my head off. His mind raced over the last five minutes. At first when he'd seen her, he could have sworn he'd seen something. Something that he had never seen in her eyes before, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He shook his head hoping it would clear it of its confusion. It didn't. Sighing, he stepped away from the wall and pulled out a hand held mirror.

"_Sirius." _James said, then waited for a reply from the mirror. A few minutes later, a face popped up on the other side of the looking glass and spoke.

"What's up mate?"

"Could you tell me what my first class is? I'm no longer in the mood for breakfast anymore."

Sirius looked at him with understanding.

"Sure thing mate. McGonagall just handed them out a few minutes ago." Sirius paused as he picked up James' timetable and looked at it.

"We've got Transfiguration first. You gonna be ok?"

Yeah. Thanks mate. I'll see you in class," and without waiting for a reply, he carefully placed the mirror back into his bag before starting out towards his transfiguration class, his thoughts dwelling solely on his first Lily encounter of the year.

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Normal POV

When Lily arrived outside of the Transfiguration room, she groaned. The cause of all her problems was there, leaning against the wall like he owned the place. James looked up when he heard her sound of displeasure and sighed. This didn't go unnoticed by Lily, who was beyond surprised when James' hand didn't reach for his hair. That's not like him, not like him at all, she thought to herself.

Shaking her head, she chose to ignore him like she had originally planed. Lily walked up to the wall on the opposite side of the door to which James was standing. She placed her bag on the ground, knelt down beside it, and then gave him her back, refusing to look at him.

"I'm sorry, you know" James said miserably to her rigid back.

Despite everything, Lily couldn't ignore this.

"Sorry for what?" she asked, keeping her back to him.

"For whatever I did in the past to make you hate me."

"I don't hate you" she said before she could stop herself, but then decided to continue.

"I hate your attitude. I hate the way you treat those who you think are beneath you, but I don't hate you."

"What if I changed? If you haven't noticed Sirius and I have yet to pull any pranks this year."

Lily finally turned to look at him. "I must admit, I was surprised when you didn't pull your traditional prank at the start of school feast, but it's only been two days Potter. I can't really believe you've changed until there's more proof."

"If I did change, would you go out with me?"

"If you don't ask, you won't be disappointed." She answered, as she gave him her back again.

James paused. Things weren't going too well but at least they weren't yelling at each other.

"But I did ask." James said softly.

It was Lily's turn to pause and to James, it seemed to last forever. Finally she answered in the best way she could, all the while still not looking at him.

"I can't see you changing Potter, I really can't. I can't see you being any other way then you are now. But if you did change, then I'd have to get to know the different you and see where it goes from there."

James smiled; this was the first time she had not straight out refused him. It was only a maybe, but it was the best bloody maybe he had ever heard in his entire life. He would change. It would be hard, but he would.

They spent the rest of the wait in silence, just sitting there thinking to themselves. Lily was confused. She couldn't believe she had just given Potter a maybe when he'd asked her out. But she had meant what she'd said, about having to get to know the different him. She really **couldn't** see Potter being any different. Although deep down she knew he would change. Not completely, it was James Potter after all, but he would improve. And the thought scared Lily to tears.

----------------

That night - or really the next morning it being past midnight - up in the boys dorms, James was telling Sirius about his talk with Lily, and Sirius was absolutely horrified.

"I can't believe you've sworn off pranks. This is going to be a boring year isn't it?" He said miserably.

"Come on Padfoot, it'll be good for us. We'll be learning restraint."

From the look on Sirius' face: he wasn't biting, so James added for his friends benefit.

"Besides, this is kind of like a prank in its' self."

"How do you mean?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"Well everyone will be expecting us to pull some sort of prank any time now. The whole school was expecting us to pull one at the opening feast like we always do. Everyone was surprised when we didn't. They all think we're in the midst's of planing a really big one, and everyone will be worried for a while but that will all die down after a few months and that's when we hit with one of our best pranks ever -"

"Just one thing Prongs. You promised Lily you would change."

"Yes I did promise that I would change, but not that I'd become a bloody saint. Besides, you didn't let me finish. When all the suspicion dies down, we dish out the prank we were working on over the summer. It's a good prank, which Lily shouldn't mind too much about, seeing as no one should get hurt - mentally or physically. Actually, you could say that it would be more like assistance to the student body." He finished with a laugh.

"Ok, it's a done deal! Except, I think that first thing tomorrow morning, you should post that you'll be holding Quidditch tryouts sometime next week and practice will start sometime the following week, because I seriously think we're going to need the distraction."

"Good idea," James laughed. "It will also be to the teams' advantage to start earlier. So essentially, everyone wins."

----------------

- One and a half months later. -

The weeks past by so fast it was like they had never been, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been uneventful and far too quiet. Every student in the school was keeping as far away as possible from the Marauders. Just as James had predicted - everyone was of the suspicion that they where in the midst of their biggest prank ever and no one had a desire to be caught in the middle of it. Lily was actually surprised that James had lasted this long. Although, she knew that his starting the house Quidditch team practice sessions early had been extremely helpful in keeping him out of trouble. He completely submersed himself and the other players in the different strategies that he and Sirius had worked on over the summer.

Two weeks before the first Quidditch match of the season, Lily found herself partnered up with James during a double Advance Potions class. They worked together throughout the lesson mostly in silence.

"You know, you really should get around to pulling a prank soon. People are starting to freak." Lily whispered, breaking the silence between them five minutes before the end of the period.

"Oh? I thought you didn't like our pranks?" he whispered back.

"I don't like your dangerous ones. Besides, your not pulling a prank is going to drive everyone nuts from always being on high alert."

James chuckled. "We were going to wait until things died down first, then hit when everyone least expected."

Lily laughed, "I should have guessed."

"And -" James had started to say something but was cut off by Slughorn announcing the end of the period.

"What were you saying?" Lily queried as she began to pack up.

"I was going to say that you shouldn't worry about it being dangerous. It's actually quite tame but still at the same time Marauder worthy."

Lily smiled, "Good, we don't want an incident like the one last year with the suits of armour.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault. Peter wrote down the wrong spell. They were only meant to dance when someone walked by, not attack them, and we fixed it before anyone was seriously hurt."

"You don't think Gilderoy Lockhart breaking his arm when he fell down those stairs in his attempt to get away not seriously hurt?"

"Well he didn't die did he and his broken arm was easily fixed by Madam Pomfrey. Lockhart was perfectly fine the next day."

Lily shook her head and sighed. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"I do understand what you're getting at. The suit of armour incident really was just an accident and it won't happen again, I promise. Remus takes care of finding the spells for the pranks now and he would never make a mistake like that and risk hurting someone."

"Just be careful while you're planing your pranks, okay?"

"Worried for my safety?"

"Worried for the schools safety, more like," she laughed.

"I'll see you later James," She said as she got up and she put the last of her stuff in her bag before walking out of the potions lab with Lara and Jessica.

James stared at her retreating back with utter shock. She'd used his first name for once and not his last. She'd called him James! Things were actually starting to change for the better.

----------------

Lily didn't know why she used his first name, but it had just seemed appropriate. She shrugged to herself and had already put the thought to the side when she noticed Lara and Jessica looking at her quizzically. At first she ignored them, but when they still hadn't stopped looking at her that way by time they'd reached the entrance hall, Lily finally became fed up and snapped at them.

"Ok, what is with the two of you?"

"You and James Potter – you were actually talking to him in a civilized tone. You actually called him by his first name." Jessica stammered, trying not to go into shock.

"Are you all right? Has he done something to you?"

"What? No!"

"No what?"

"No he hasn't done something to me and yes I'm all right. We've just called a sort of truce I guess. He's growing up."

"Oh My God, was Hayley right? Have you actually fallen for his looks like half of this schools female population has? I can't believe it! Lily has her first crush!" Lara squealed.

"WHAT! I do not. I can't believe you'd actually think that. Just because he's a little cute and is starting to finally grow up does not mean I have a crush on him. So drop it and never bring it up such a thing to me again!"

"Come on Lil's, you must admit it is a little strange. You've always hated Potter, but now you're getting along with him as though you never did."

Lily sighed. "Look, Potter is trying to change and I'm trying to help him succeed. So can you just drop it, or would you rather things to go on like they used to with the Marauders forever causing havoc and Potter and me fighting whenever we come into sight of each other?"

"Ok, we won't mention it again, if you don't want to talk about it. We were just wondering over your unusual behaviour." Jessica said softly.

"I know you were and I appreciate your worrying." Lily said and then changed the subject.

**Authors Note:** Well the first chapter is finally up. Hope you all enjoyed it. But seriously 55 hits and not a single review. That's terrible people. :'( Look you're making me cry. If you want to stop the blubbering you'll need to review. Anyway, thanks for reading. Kiss Kiss.


	3. Smellified

**Unexpected Circumstances **

Chapter Two. 

The day of the first Quidditch match of the season dawned bright and clear. The weather was perfect; not a single cloud dared to streak the perfect sky. James awoke early that Saturday, and as he lay in bed watching the sun rise through the open window across the room, he began to think about the up coming match and all of the plans the guys and he had come up with for after. He wasn't worried about the match itself. His team was prepared. He sat up and looked blurry eyed around the room. Sirius, Remus and Peter were all still sleeping.

James dragged himself out of bed and started to dress. He was rummaging through his trunk to find his pants when Sirius sat up in bed. He looked first over at James, then down at his wristwatch.

"Good God! Do you know what time it is?" he groaned.

"Six," James said without looking up from his trunk.

"Your completely nutters, you know that? No decent person gets up at this ungodly hour."

James shrugged, "I couldn't get back to sleep."

Sirius groaned more agonisingly and let his head fall back onto his pillow.

"Don't you think that you should be getting up now as well?" Sirius groaned even louder, causing James to laugh, which in turn caused Sirius to throw his pillow at James. It missed.

James grinned. "Your aim's not very good today Padfoot, maybe Elaine should fill in your place for you. Just until it gets better that is," he said, as he pulled on his pants.

"You've got to be kidding! Elaine can't hit a bludger to save her life. Literally. How many times has she nearly hit her self with the bat instead of the bludger? Don't you recall that time she missed the bludger and it hit herself in the stomach, causing her fall of her broom. Elaine is a disaster waiting to happen, you said so your self."

"Padfoot! Calm down, for bloody hells sake! Please. Prongs is only pulling your leg. No captain in his right mind would let Elaine take your place on the pitch. Even Prongs … **especially** Prongs. Now will the two of you kindly **Shut** – **The** **Hell** – **Up**! I am trying to **Sleep**," Remus growled.

James looked at Sirius and Sirius looked at James. A devilish smile slowly began to form on their perfect lips. Carefully and soundlessly, Sirius got out of his bed and picked up his wand from his bed stand. The two nodded to each other and began to rase their wands in a union –

"_Alarte' Ascendare!"_ Remus said almost lazily from across the room before the two could even utter a single syllable. Sirius began to rise into the air, and then suddenly crashed directly on top of James. The two of them lay there, in a tangled heap on the floor.

For a moment the room was soundless, and then suddenly, out of the blue, a deep rolling laughter started to vibrate off the walls. There was James, half squished beneath Sirius and in a complete fit of hysterical laughter. Both Remus and Sirius looked at him in bewilderment. Then shaking their heads, they joined him in his merriment.

"What's so funny!" spoke a squeaky voice tiredly from across the room. Poor little Peter felt as though he was always missing out on so many of the things that the other three did together. He didn't understand their close nit friendship. Sirius, Remus and James had all been friends for years before they'd actually started at Hogwarts. He envied their friendship; he'd never really had any friends when he was younger. Peter had lived with his grandfather out in the middle of no-where, had never really seen the outside world until he'd come to Hogwarts. London had scared the crap out of him.

"Nothing Wormtail" Sirius said as he crawled to his feet, but he fell once again on top of James as said person yanked at his ankle.

'Oooff' … "Nothing?" James coughed. "Are you kidding me?" he laughed "Damn it, the look on your face -" James sighed, wiping away a tear from his left eye "priceless. And then there's also the fact that Moony just took us both out with a simple second grade spell …" James paused, sobering up.

"Come to think of it, that's not so funny," James said looking up at Sirius with a sombre expression. "I seriously think we're going have to change our tactics, Padfoot. Moony's beginning to know us too well."

Sirius rolled his eyes, smacking James over the head.

----------------

"Captains, shake hands."

James walked up to the centre of the pitch and shook hands with the Slytherin captain, almost having it crushed in the process.

"Mount your brooms please. On my whistle … three … two … one …"

"And they're off, with Gryffindor's Aggie Hallow in possession of the Quaffle." Cried commentator, Sara McGinnis excitedly. "Hallow passes to Jason Longs … ouch, that looks like that hurt. Slytherin captain, Romulus Callaghan now in possession of the Quaffle. Callaghan passes to Thomas Newt. Newt just misses a bludger sent his way by Gryffindor Beater Sirius Black. Newt passes to Sarah Davidson. Davidson shoots … and it's saved by Gryffindor's Keeper, Simon Smith –"

James soared around the pitch, his eyes roaming everywhere as he flew. Slytherin's Seeker, Henry Bisbee, horribly ugly as he was, was sicking close behind him, mimicking his every move. Stupid idiot, talk about unprofessional, he thought to himself.

James shook his hair out of his eyes; Hinton was really starting to get on his nerves. It was time to teach him what happened when you don't look for the snitch on your own.

"Potter Dives! Has he seen the snitch? Hinton is right on this tail. Neither one is pulling up – their going to crash into the ground – I can't bear to look – oh no – Wait, POTTER PULLS UP!" Sara screamed excitedly. "But Hinton can't seem to do the same." _**Smack**_ "Ooooh, ouch! That's gotta hurt … and it's another spectacular move from James Potter. That guy is definitely going to go far."

The stadium became defining with the commentators' shouts and the crowds cheers!

"Potter's off down the pitch, has he seen the snitch for real this time? Could this be the end of the match? He has, he's seen the snitch. He almost has it – just a little further Potter – ouch, stopped by one of the Slytherin Beaters, and that was so close to. All well, better luck next time Potter. And Gryffindor's in the lead – ninety to forty."

"Damn it, you were so close."

"Don't worry Padfoot; we'll get him back at the end of the match. Right now you need to stay focused. Go take your fury out on those bludgers. Hitting a few Slytherin's will do the trick." With that said, James shot up into the sky to get a good view of the pitch.

"And now it's Slytherin in possession of the Quaffle. Newt passes it to Callaghan. Callaghan just misses a bludger sent by Gryffindor's Alister McFadden, almost loosing the Quaffle. Callaghan passes back to Newt … Slytherin scores! Gryffindor still in the lead by a hundred and ten to seventy.

"Gryffindor now in possession," said Sara. "Hayley Penper speeds down the pitch, dodging everything thrown her way … boy can this girl fly. And she scores, bringing Gryffindor to a hundred and twenty to seven – wait a second – Potters seen the Snitch …"

And he had. James sped up the pitch towards the Slytherin goals, lying flat against his broom to gain more speed. Sirius was flying right beside him, sending every Bludger that came James' way soaring behind him toward the Slytherin Seeker. Adrenalin and excitement was pumping through James' body. The Snitch changed direction several times to try and get away from James, but he was sticking close behind it. James saw nothing but the little golden ball with wings. His eyes followed its every move. Slowly he began to gain on it, and then the Snitch made its last fatal move … it dived. James grinned as he too made the plunge after it. Now he was really gaining on it. His body mass being ten times that of the Snitch, gravity was aiding him in the chase. Now his fingers were only three inches from the Snitch, but the ground was also closing in on them. Two inches from the Snitch … thirty metres from the ground … one inch … twenty metres. He couldn't pull up, he almost had it …"

----------------

"What the hell does James think his doing?!" Lily cried.

"Looks to me like his trying to catch the snitch," Kyra said sarcastically.

"No, he's bloody showing off again and his going to get himself killed in the process."

"Well this _is_ James Lily, it wouldn't be a normal day if James wasn't showing off."

"His going to crash!"

"I don't know what she's getting all worked up about. Wasn't it only a few months ago that she was threatening to throw him out the Gryffindor tower window? **Without **his broom." Kyra whispered to Jessica, making her laugh.

"I heard that!" Lily glaired.

"Whoops!" Kyra said cutely.

----------------

He almost had it … almost … his fingers grazed against it. Almost there. James flattened himself even farther against his broom. He was running out of time. All around him he could hear the screams from people in the stands. Everyone had their eyes on James. The whole Quidditch match had ground to a halt; The Gryffindor team praying for his life, while the Slytherin team prayed for a gruesome death. Almost there … he had to get it … he had to … the ground was so close, there was no way that he could pull out of his dive now. He had only one option left, and it wasn't the most graceful way either.

James jumped. Giving him the much needed distance to catch the Snitch, but then came the uncomfortable landing. With all the speed he had gathered, his landing was going to hurt – a lot. All he could do was close his eyes and pray. But the landing never came. Opening his eyes, what James saw was completely unexpected. He was floating, barely three inches above the ground.

----------------

"James you idiot!" Lily yelled.

"Oh Crap!" Lily quickly reached down into her pocket for her wand. I have a good mind not to do it. It would teach him a lesson, Lily thought to herself. Shaking her head to clear it, she raised her wand and pointed it at James.

"_Aresto Momentum_" she cried, stopping James just inches from the ground. Sighing to herself, she gently lowered him down the rest of the way.

"I seriously hope I don't regret this later."

----------------

After the match had finished and everyone was on their way back up to the castle, Sirius dashed over to Remus and pulled him into the shadows.

"Did you do it Moony?" Sirius' sly voice asked.

"Mission accomplished" Remus replied.

"This is so great. While we're partying with the rest of the Gryffindor's, those icky, slimy, smelly Slytherin's are going to be in a living hell," Sirius cackled evilly.

"Did you put extra in Bellatrix's bed like I told you to?"

"Yes Padfoot."

"Perfect!"

With that worry out of his mind, Sirius strutted off towards the Gryffindor change rooms to get out of his Quidditch uniform. All the while, a fat smirk was plastered to his face.

----------------

"I thought you said you had a prank planned for after the match?" Lily said quietly to James, as they entered the common room together.

"We do." James answered simply.

"When?"

"What's with all the interest about the Marauders new prank Lil's? Or is it really that you're interested in me."

"Don't start **Potter**, or I'll stop talking to you."

James laughed. "No you wouldn't. You love me too much Lily, that's why you saved my life. You couldn't bear to loose me," James said in a cutesy voice.

"I knew I'd regret that decision the moment I made it. Good Bye Potter." Lily said blankly, then turned and walked stiffly away.

"Lily wait. I was only joking. Come on Lil's."

Lily stoped, the turned to face him very slowly.

"So was I," Lily grinned. "Come on, I'm not that much of a bitch."

The two laughed together, causing everyone in the common room to stop what he or she was doing. Lily Evans and James Potter were getting along! Now they realised why it has been so quiet thus far this year. After five years of nothing but bickering, the two of them were actually laughing together. There was only one explanation. The world was coming to an end.

"What?" Lily asked, noticing the stares from everyone, which quite frankly weirded her out. James just laughed harder, causing Lily to hit him on the back of the head.

"Hey! That hurt."

"Hay is for horses James."

"What's a horse?"

"Never mind" Lily sighed as she walked over to the armchairs in the far corner, so they could finish their prior talk in privet.

"So, when do I find out what this great but supposably harmless new prank of yours is?"

"Probably … Tomorrow morning." James replied, ignoring the sarcasm. "Of course, it's all happening tonight, so you don't have to worry about being caught in the midst of it all. Just keep your eyes open during breakfast. You'd have to be blind to miss it, or what I should be saying you'd have to have a **really **bad sense of smell" James said with a laugh.

"You're picking on the Slytherin's again aren't you? Lily asked disapprovingly.

"Only a select few. Come on, it's only a prank, and it's the first of the year, we have to do it on the Slytherin's."

"You don't have to do anything."

"We do if we want to uphold our reputation." Sirius said as he dropped a large crate of butter beers on the table next to them.

"Where did you get those?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"Secret!" James and Sirius answered simultaneously.

Lily shook her head in disgusted. Once a Marauder, always a Marauder, she thought to herself.

"I'm going to bed." Lily said as she rose from her chair.

"You're not staying for the celebration?" Sirius asked, shocked.

James looked both sad, worried and confused. Was she angry?

"No, I'm pretty tired. Too much excitement for one day." Lily responded, not noticing James' expression.

"Night," she said as she walked passed the two of them, heading towards the stairs to the girls dorms.

"Night" the two replied together.

James' eyes watched Lily's departure until she had completely disappeared, then continued to stare at the spot where he'd seen her last. Probably would have all night if Sirius hadn't of brought him back to earth with his next remark.

"Damn it Prongs. Hate to say this, but you're a bloody lovesick puppy dog when it comes to Evans."

"Technically his a lovesick stag. You're the only dog around here Padfoot." Remus said as both he and Peter arrived and sat down in the two remaining chairs.

"Where have you two been?" James asked.

"Library. Wormtail needed to finish his charms homework."

"You're doing homework on a Quidditch match day?" Sirius shook his head, appalled by the idea.

"It's due on Monday." Peter squeaked in his own defence.

"You could have done it tomorrow."

"But I have to do my Defence Against the Dark Arts homework tomorrow."

"You still haven't done that?" James asked, shocked. "I thought you did it last Thursday night when we were doing ours."

"I was, but I didn't get to finish it."

The other three Marauders sighed in exasperation. "I'll help you finish it tomorrow after breakfast," James said. "But right now it's time to party. Everyone, listen up! In honour of our win against Slytherin today, we give you one of the best parties this House has ever seen! Butter beer all 'round!"

Everyone in the common room cheered and whistled in reply to the news.

"Moony, if you please."

"_Cant Musica._" Remus said and with a flick and a wave of his wand, music sprang forth from it. And so commenced the celebration.

----------------

Meanwhile, down in the Slytherin dorm it was a mad house. No one was happy about the Gryffindor's winning the Quidditch match and to make matters worse, no one could shower. Every time someone from sixth or seventh year got in and turned the tap on, it would spray out green goo. The girls more then anyone were extremely peeved. No one could do anything to try and stop it. Even the Professors couldn't do anything. Whatever they tried, it would only make matters worse. So every sixth and seventh year Slytherin had to go to bed without a shower that night. However, none of them knew that as soon as they got into bed they would be greeted with a series of exploding dug bombs. It really wasn't their night. First they loose the Quidditch match, then they can't shower and then to top it all off, dug bombs explode in their beds making them and their dorm smell **awful**. But if they thought tonight was bad, tomorrow would be even worse. Because now when people said that Slytherin smelt, they wouldn't be lying.

----------------

The next morning was the same as any other for Lily. She slept in, much to her friends' annoyance, but it being a weekend they allowed it. Until ten anyway, then she got icy water thrown in her face, curtesy of Kyra.

"You Bitch! I said I was up!"

"That was fifteen minutes ago," Jessica said from across the room.

"Oh Shut Up! You know I'm not a morning person."

"Hence the cold water," Kyra retorted.

Lily scowled and stormed off towards the showers.

"You really like pushing her buttons, don't you?"

"Yep! She just so easy to rial. It gives me a kick."

"I'll give you a kick."

-Ten minutes later-

"Lily are you ok? You haven't fallen asleep in the shower have you?" Jessica asked from one side of the door.

"No, I'm getting out now."

"Well hurry up! We're all ready; we're just waiting on you."

"Well go if you want. I'll meet you down there."

"No, we'll wait. Just hurry up."

Lily sighed and turned the shower off. She got out and raped a fluffy white towel around herself, and walked up to the mirror. Wiping away the perspiration from the glass, she looked at her reflection then began to apply her make up.

"Lily!! Hurry up!"

"Oh be quiet, or I'll work slower." Lily laughed when she heard the groans and sighs of frustration come from the other side of the door.

After double-checking everything was in place, - from her glossy straight hair, to her simple, yet effective makeup and cloths, - she turned and walked out of the bathroom.

"Ready for breakfast?" she asked merrily.

"We have been for the past half hour," Hayley grouched.

"Oh boo hoo for you."

"You two stop it. I want my breakfast," Lara grouched.

"Yes sir. Right away sir."

"Oh shut up."

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-The Great Hall-

"Have you seen any of the sixth or seventh year Slytherin's yet?" Remus asked as he joined his friends at the Gryffindor table.

"No not yet, but I seriously can't wait." Sirius said gleefully.

"Well I'm not going to be too thrilled to see them, or should I say, smell them." James smirked.

"They're going to reek! This was such a good prank," Peter said, resisting the urge to clap his hands.

"I don't know, it's kinda tame if you ask me," Sirius said a little pessimistically.

"The next one will be better," James said with a nod.

"This one would have been better if we hadn't of dropped half of the prank."

"It was too risky, especially if we had of put the rats in the beds along with the dung bombs."

"Ohh Prongs why'd you have to mention that. Now I'm depressed. Just imagine the looks on their faces … and the screaming girls. And then there was that bit how they would have been spelled to follow them around all day, attracted to their _smelliness_. And the flies and the roaches, and the little flashing lights above their heads… I hate Lily. She did this to you. The old Prongs wouldn't have given a second thought about doing all of that to the Slytherin's," Sirius' head crashed down onto the table, landing in the centre of his breakfast plate.

"What's wrong with Sirius … or shouldn't I ask?" Lily inquired as she sat next to him.

"He's a little upset about us going easy on the Slytherin's in the prank," Peter answered her.

"You actually went easy on them? The Marauders went easy on the Slytherin's? I don't believe you!" Kyra said with pure shock.

A slightly muffled noise that sounded suspiciously like a wounded dog came from Sirius' direction.

"Are you sure he's ok?" Lara asked worriedly

"He'll be fine. He's just in one of those moods," James said as he poured himself some more pumpkin juice, while ignoring the dogs' now almost continuous whimpers. The girls didn't look convinced.

It was some time later, - the girls having almost finished their breakfast, - when Sirius' head shot up, causing food to fly everywhere.

"What'd I miss," Sirius asked as James flung a napkin at him so he could clean himself up.

"Not much, Padfoot."

"Well that's good … oh hello Lily, girls. When did you get here? Wait, before you answer that, I'd take a deep breath now and hold it till you get outside."

"What are you … oh my god what is that smell?!"

"Don't say I didn't worn you," Sirius sung over the slowly rising voices of the people filling the Great Hall.

"That smell would be our prank," James said with a sigh.

Just five minutes later the actual cause of the stench showed up and with them came the full force of the stench. None of the smellified looked at all happy about their condition. Not a single sixth on seventh year Slytherin wore their customary smirk that day or the next.

"What did you do to make them smell so bad?" Kyra choked out.

"Planted some enhanced dung bombs in their beds," Sirius replied.

"Then spelled the showers so that whenever a sixth or seventh year tried to use them, it would spray out green slim from the bottom of the Lake," James continued.

"How is that going easy on them," Lily asked, absolutely appalled.

Remus filled the girls in on the original plan and why they dropped it.

"Now I see what you mean. You were going easy on them by Marauder standards." Lily shook her head, calming her self down. At least James had thought about the consequences and danger of using the rats and the bugs in the prank. It was a start.

**Authors Note:** I love you guys -Wipes away tear- and because I got all of those beautiful reviews I decided to update faster. Party time! Okay enough of the silliness. Tell me what you think of the prank and who your favourite Character from this fic is. Kiss Kiss! 


	4. Deep Secrets

**Unexpected Circumstances**

Chapter Three. 

By the end of the week the once lingering smell started to disappear. The Slytherin showers had stoped their misbehaving, just as they were supposed to at six pm on the Sunday night. The Marauders – as they had told the girls – went easy on the Slytherin's, and only made them go one night without a shower. Of course, the showers didn't really ease the smell by much. That had to fade on it's own.

The Marauders managed to weasel their way out of detention, as there wasn't sufficient proof that they had done it– although everyone knew they had, they were the Marauders after all.

James was relieved that Lily wasn't too mad about it. He was happy that she was willing to let him still be himself as long as it didn't get out of hand and no one got hurt.

Which would no longer happen.

And so, the time began to fly by all over again. Before anyone knew what hit them, winter had rolled in and Hogwarts was getting ready for the Christmas holidays.

"So what are your plans for Christmas Lily?" Hayley asked over lunch on a snowy Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm not sure yet. There's been talk of going up to Chester to visit my grandparents, but Petunia's been trying to talk mum into bringing her _boyfriend_ along with us." Lily rolled her eyes, causing the girls to laugh. They'd all heard the tales about Vernon Dursley.

"If that ends up happening I'm going to say I have to much homework and need to stay at school to use the library. One of the perks of going to a school for 'Geniuses'" Lily laughed. However, deep inside she truly wasn't. Laughing that is. No, deep inside what she really felt was alone. Thinking of her grandparents always did that to her.

No matter how proud her parents were of her, they didn't think it wise to tell the rest of the family about her gifts. Expressly Grandma and Grandpa Evans. Those two were so religious that if they had any indication that their precious little Lily-kens was a witch, they'd no doubt lock her from their house and throw away the key, then call up the nearest church to take her away until they had removed all the evil demons from her body. It was mainly for this reason that they decided to tell family, friends and really anybody who asked, that Lily attended a privet school for the truly intellectual.

"Lily, are you ok? You look a little spacey," Jessica asked from across the table.

"What? Oh yeah, just lost in thought is all," Lily said with a smile and a shake of her head.

"What time is it?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Genius her foot. She'd be the first to admit she wasn't very good at trying to change subjects.

"Damn it. I hadn't realised it was so late. Come on, we'd better get to class," Lara said picking up her book bag.

"Lily and I have a free," Hayley said when the other three girls looked at her and Lily questioningly.

The two girls watched as their friends left the Great Hall to make their way to their next class.

"I really don't feel like doing homework right now. You wanna head out side. It doesn't look too cold out there and I could really do with some fresh air. I've been cooped up inside for too long," Hayley asked with a tilt of her head.

"I could to with stretching my legs," Lily replied, grinning.

The two of them collected their stuff and made their way to join the wave of students leaving the Great Hall.

"We didn't get to asked you where you were going these holi's Hayels," Lily asked her blond friend.

"Just staying home. You know, Christmas dinner, house full of screaming babies, over stressed adults, everyone fighting over who gets the last piece of Yorkshire Pudding. Same old, same old. I sware Lily, you are so lucky you've only got one sister."

"Lucky, you have got to be kidding me. You're the one who's lucky. Sure you never have a quiet moment but at lest none of them think you're a freak. My sister refuses to even look at me half the time, let alone speak to me."

"True, but being the youngest of five defiantly doesn't have a lot of perks either. I have absolutely nothing in common with my sisters. And my brothers, who I do have things in common with, - like Quidditch and such - refuse to let me hang with them cause of the fact that I'm female. Then there's the age difference between us all. I'm the baby. The baby whose big brothers and sisters all have babies of their own. They won't stop babying me," Hayley said as she sat down and lent her back against a tree trunk.

"I can only imagine," Lily said, and then shock her head. "I guess you can't win no matter what. Life just isn't perfect and if it was, we'd all be bored shitless, with nothing to complain about."

"You have the weirdest way of looking at things, you know that?" Hayley giggled.

"Yep. As my mum always says… Is that James?"

"What?"

"Over there, and if I'm not mistaken that's Snape who's dangling upside down in the air. I'd recognize those grey underpants anywhere," Lily said angrily as she stormed off in their direction.

"So much for changing for the better. I guess some things will never change," Hayley muttered to herself as she ran to catch up to the furious red head.

----------------

"JAMES POTTER! YOU LET HIM DOWN IMMEDIATELY!" Lily yelled as she came barging into the highly unfair fight.

"Lily is between me and Snivellus. Stay out of it." James said coolly, never once taking his eyes off of Snape.

"No I Won't Stay Out Of It **Potter!** Now Let Him Down." James cringed at the use of his last name.

"Lily, you don't understand the circumstances. Will you just leave it alone?"

"Not until you leave Snape alone."

"He doesn't deserve your compassion Lily," James snapped.

"And he doesn't deserve you endlessly harassing him. Now let him go," Lily retorted.

"Lily I think it would be best for you to leave and forget you ever saw this," Sirius cautioned.

"Stay out of this!!" Lily and James shouted together, causing Sirius to cringe. James turned his head towards Lily, then with only a moment's hesitation, James reluctantly gritted out the counter curse, releasing Snape from the invisible clutches that held him upside down.

"If you think I'm going to thank you Evans, you've got another thing coming," Snape snarled.

"Just Get Out Of My Sight Snivellus!" James yelled, then snatched Snape's wand from Sirius' hands and threw it away for Snape to collect after he'd left.

"Happy?" James bit out at Lily once Snape had finally left.

"No, I'm not actually. You didn't have to throw his wand away like that. What did he ever do to you to deserve your hounding him?"

"I thought I'd already told you that last year, Evans. It's the fact that he exists that I don't like."

"Oh yes, I'd actually forgotten this arrogant side of yours. Ganging up on those weaker then yourself gives you a power kick."

"I can't believe you think that. You're determined to see the worst in me aren't you?"

"I'm only seeing what's in front of me Potter. I gave you a chance and you blew it. I see now I was just wasting my time," Lily exclaimed. Turning on her heel, she started to leave.

"Well I'm so sorry Little Miss Life's So Perfect. Not everyone can get along with creeps like him," James bit out sarcastically, stoping Lily in her tracks.

"You think my life's perfect?" Lily retorted angrily as she turned back to face him.

"Well sorry to bust the bubble on your happy little image of my life, but let me tell you the truth of the matter. And do a little comparing while we're there shall we? I'm a muggle born. Obvious, I know. But here's a thing you probably never realised. No matter where I go, or what I do, I will never truly fit in. I can't even tell any of my relations for fear of being cut from the family. Do you know what that's like? Being so different from your family?

"My sister hates my guts. In her eyes I'm a freak. Sure my parents are all for my being a witch, thinking the magical world to be fascinating, but deep down I know they wish I were just a normal person. Just like everyone else," Lily paused, choking back the tears that threatened to fall. She refused to let him see her cry.

"I can't even get a brake here. Because here, - like at home - I'm different. Here I'm a mudblood. The only difference between the two is the fact that at lest when I'm home I get some peace and quiet. Here I can't even walk down a hallway without seeing someone sneering or jeering at me. Sure, I occasionally get that from my sister when I'm at home, but most of the time she just choses to ignore me.

"I endlessly have to prove myself here. Prove to all of you pure bloods that I'm just as good as the rest of you. Whereas people like you, from the first moment that you arrived here you're immediately accepted. And it's all because of your stupid breeding. Well it's **sick**. You don't need approval. You've always had it. But muggle born's like me are going to be forever outcast. Outcast by their family **and** by pure bloods. So tell me Potter. Whose life is perfect? Certainly not mine, that's for sure. If anyone has the right to be fighting people like Snape, it's me, and yet never once have I attacked him; or any of the Slytherin's for that matter. Yet here you are, with no reason at all, ganging up on Snape just for your own amusement." Lily could no longer stop the tears that threatened to fall, allowing a single tear to escape and trickle down her cheek. James cringed

"One last thing before I go Potter. If you guessed the underlying message from what I've just said, I'll spell it out for you, I don't get along with creeps like him. No one can – unless you're a creep as well then you have something in common. You know, I'm surprised that you don't get along splendidly with him, being that you're just as big a toerag as the rest of them. But that's beside the point. The point is that the only way you can truly deal with people like him is to just ignore their existence, cause otherwise, if you sink to their level then you're just as bad as they are." With tears now streaming freely down her face, Lily turned and ran up to the castle. Not stoping till she reached the Gryffindor tower, all the way kicking herself for letting the tears brake free.

----------------

I would be a great understatement to say that James was shocked. He hated himself for causing Lily's tears, even more so when she didn't show up to classes for the rest of the day. He couldn't even ask if she was all right because none of her friends were at dinner that night.

He'd never had any inclination that Lily had felt that way. She always seemed so happy. When she wasn't angry that is. But the truth of the matter was, – as Sirius was constantly pointing out – Lily never should have interfered. Sure, Lily didn't like James ganging up on people, but this time he wasn't. And if she hadn't noticed, he'd stoped hexing people in the corridors a long time ago. He didn't really find it funny anymore. But Snivellus was a different matter. And he wasn't ganging up on him. Sirius was just watching his back, making sure Snape didn't catch James unawares. Ok, so he was ganging up on him. But Snape didn't deserve a fair fight. If it was reversed and it was Snape with the advantage, then he could probably kiss his life goodbye. Snape would kill him on sight, whereas James just got payback. A lot of it. Lily just didn't understand the circumstances.

Lily would probably never understand the circumstances, cause if James had his way, then that secret was following him to his grave.

----------------

It was obvious to Lily that Hayley had opened her big mouth and told the girls all that she'd said to James during their free period. No matter what she said to deny the fact, she'd always be a gossiping female. Even if she was a bit of a tomboy. The girls had skipped dinner with her and stayed in their dorm instead. They stayed mostly silent, but Lily found their worried glances more annoying then their curious questions could ever be.

So with out so much as a word as to where she was going, she left the Gryffindor tower. She was actually surprised that none of them tried to follow her. In the end it was a good thing, the mood she was presently in, probably would have caused her to hexed them. Something she would have deeply regretted when she'd finally calmed down.

Consequently, Lily was left with nothing to do but to aimless wander around with no destination. Forty-five minutes later and Lily found herself at the astronomy tower.

The night was somewhat frigid but Lily didn't care. She sat her self down on the brick railing of the tower and hugged her knees to her chest. The position was hardly safe but at the particular moment, Lily really didn't care.

"Your not thinking of jumping are you?" asked a deep husky voice from the shadows on her right. Lily jumped slightly and whipped her head around in the direction of the speaker. The movement nearly caused Lily to fall from the ledge, but she managed to stabilize herself before any danger occurred.

"What makes you think that?" Lily asked, her heart still racing as she hoped off the ledge.

"Well the position you were siting in was hardly safe, but I guess you realize that. If the shock on your face just then was any indication," the voice spoke in obvious amusement.

"Could you come out of the shadows? It's kind of unnerving not knowing whom I'm talking to."

"I guess, but that takes out all the fun of it."

"The fun of what?" Lily asked apprehensively

"I don't know. The fun of the situation I guess." The voice spoke in such a way that even though Lily couldn't see who was speaking, she knew that they were shrugging their shoulders along with their answer.

"Look, if you don't come out where I can see you I'm going to leave."

"All right luv, no need to get so huffy. What is it with you Redheads?" Lily heard some shuffling, along with the voices reply as it made it's way towards her.

_It_ happened to be to be at least six foot tall, with slightly curly light brown hair and grey/blue eyes. He was actually kind of cute.

"You see, now this makes it awkward. Now neither of us knows what to say."

"True, but at least now you don't have an advantage on me." Lily paused, wondering whether she should introduce her self or not.

"My name's Alexander. Alexander Michael Noel Wickham if you wanna be exact. And if you insist on calling me by an abbreviation, than call me Alex. If you even think of calling me Xander, then you've got another thing coming. I really hate that name." Alex finished with a sigh.

"It's nice to meet you Alex. My name's L…"

"I know who you are," he interrupted. "I'd have to be deaf not to know who you are."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, considering that over the corse of your attending this school, you've hardly had a night where you and that Potter guy haven't made at least one scene. So like I said. I'd have to be deaf not to know who you are."

Lily had the decency to blush.

"Although, I'm surprised to say that I've yet to actually see one of your usual fights this year. You two finally getting along now?" Alex asked, quirking his right eyebrow while tilting his head slightly to the left.

"We were."

"Were? What happened?"

"He was a jerk one too many times for me to handle."

"That was stupid of him. He obviously doesn't know what his losing."

"Excuse me?

Alex continued as though he hadn't heard her. "Don't worry, he'll turn 'round, and you'll eventually forgive him. Deep down you like him, even if you are too stubborn to admit it yet."

"Me and Potter? You've got to be kidding me. As if. Maybe as a friend but our personalities are way too different to have an actual relationship. Knowing him, he'd eventually drive me around the bend."

Alex laughed, heading for the door to the stairs.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that opposites attract? I mean if you were with someone like yourself, you'd eventually get bored senseless. Someone like him would definitely keep you on your toes. Even make life interesting. Think about it. Good night."

Alex left Lily alone with her thoughts. It was some time later that Lily went to bed that night, her mind still in a whirl. It would be taking it lightly to say that she had never been more confused in her life.

**Authors Note:** Yeay, I love Alex, do you think he knows something Lily doesn't? HEHE And what about James, just under four months and he screws up… and what's this secrete about him and Snape. What started all the animosity between them? It must be bad if he's taking it to his grave. Review, rewiew, rewiew. Come on it's not that hard, all you have to do is click on the little button to your left and write down a few words telling me what you think. Come on, I was good enough to post two chapters in one day. I need a reward. Kiss Kiss.


	5. Prankfest

Unexpected Circumstances

**Chapter Four.**

It seemed to Lily that fate was cruel. It liked to make people suffer. Time had started to drag for Lily and all she really wanted was for the holidays to start so she could get away from all of her conflicting thoughts and emotions. She didn't care if Dursley was going to Chester with her family anymore. She just wanted to get out of Hogwarts. The fact that James was spending his Christmas at Hogwarts certainly helped Lily with her decision.

She had a plan up her sleeve anyway. She was going to ask her mum if she could stay home this Christmas, seeing as she had heaps of homework to do and didn't want to risk the grandparents seeing it. She would ask her mum to just lie and tell them that she had stayed at school to do it. After all, if they were told that she was at home, they would start asking why she just couldn't do it at their place. She even knew what she would say if her mum asked why she didn't stay at school to do her homework. She had it all figured out. Piece of cake.

It didn't stop her from feeling guilty though.

No. She wasn't going to let herself feel that way. She was perfectly justified in what she was doing.

Everything that Alex had brought up that night on the astronomy tower was complete nonsense in Lily's opinion. But it was nonsense that made Lily uneasy. That was why she had berried herself in her studies and why she wanted to get out of Hogwarts so badly. She needed time to clear her mind and re-focus. Just because some guy said that her and James were perfect for each other, didn't mean it was true. Most of the time, she couldn't even look at Ja… Potter. He just made her so angry sometimes.

All the time.

Well, whenever she ran into him anyway.

And for all she knew, Alex could have been sent by Jam… **Potter** to try and trick her into thinking she had feelings for him. Well she wasn't falling for it.

"Ha! So suck on that potty-breath," Lily said, squishing her bread roll in her fist.

"Lily are you ok!"

Lily looked up from her plate with a look of shock, realising she'd said the last thing out loud.

"Ahh… yeah I'm fine," she laughed nervously.

"You don't sound fine. You've been muttering to yourself for a few days now," Lara said, sounding concerned.

"I have?"

"Yeah"

"Oh, sorry. I guess I just have a lot on my mind at the moment," Lily replied, sheepishly.

"Do you need to talk about it? Cause if you do, where always here for you."

"Thanks Kyra, but I think I'm alright now."

----------------

The whole school seemed to have noticed the silent attitudes of both the Marauders and the girls. Especially when around each other. When passing in hallways, the groups would become painfully silent. James would throw sad glances at Lily, while she would purposely look the other way. On different occasions James would have varying reactions to this cold treatment. Sometimes it would make his already sad expression even gloomier, and he would drop his gaze to the floor. Others times, it would make him angry, and he'd turn his head sharply away to glare at the people in front of him.

Everyone had their own theories as to what could have caused them to act like this, some more ridiculous then others. But no one had really hit the nail on the head. For who could guess Lily's true inner emotions. And only James, Sirius and regretfully Snape knew of what began the true animosity that lay between the three. So thankfully, the school could only contemplate on what had really happened.

----------------

James was beginning to find Hogwarts a very dull place and he didn't like the feeling. He spent most of his time in last few days, in his dorm room doing homework. He had finished all his homework for the next week and had even gotten a head start on his holiday homework. Never had James done this before.

It was beginning to depress him.

What he really wanted to do was put all his effort into planing pranks. It was always something that took his mind of things and made him feel good. The only reason he hadn't was because Lily would crack the shits with him. He felt somewhat guilty, like he had personally wronged her. When really all he had been doing was seeking revenge on Snape. Snape didn't deserve Lily's compassion or pity. Didn't she realise that he was someone who prided himself on make the lives of everyone around him miserable. It was people like him that made people like Lily feel inferior. He deserved to be pranked and bullied. To be pulled off his pedestal and made a mockery of. To know what it's like to be laughed at …

Lily was right, James thought, thoroughly shocked. He was just as bad as the rest of them. Just as bad as Snape. He was sinking to their level, becoming one of them and he hadn't even realised. He was a jerk. Not that they didn't deserve it, but still. By starting the fights, he was sinking to their level. What he should be doing was ignoring them unless they started something. Then he could finish it and put them in their place …

"Prongs, I think it's time for you to stoped mopping around and help me come up with some new pranks. It's the last week of school and we really need to pull something."

"I think you're right Padfoot," James said, with a reluctant smile.

"What?"

"Well, I need a distraction and as long as we don't pull any pranks on just a singular person then I think it would be okay."

"What if Lily gets mad."

"She's already mad. And besides, she never really had anything against our pranking persé, just when we are careless and people got hurt. What she really doesn't like is for me to sink myself down to the level of the Slytherin's. Which I've have just come to realise I do quite a lot. Don't you just love the fact that Lily cares about my well being so much? I do."

"Wait, that just went right over my head. What are you talking about?"

"Don't worry Padfoot. I've just come to terms with a few things. I guess you could say that in the last five minutes I've grownup a lot," James finished with a laugh.

"Does that mean from now on you're going to be a big bore?" Sirius asked wearily.

"No Sirius. Deep down I'm still the same old conniving James Potter. The same James Potter who just loves to prank and who thinks we need to pull a lot of them to make up for the lack of them so far this year."

"It's good to have you back Prongs."

"I've been here the whole time Padfoot. I've just had a lot on my mind lately. So what are we waiting for? A Griffin to hatch. Lets get planing already."

"I'm right behind you Prongs … but first we have to go round up Moony and Wormtail."

"Right then. Where do you think they would be…."

----------------

The last week of school was prank central. The first prank pulled happened just two days after James' come back. It took the Marauders that night and the next day to plan it fully with all the kinks worked out. Once finished and everyone had long retired to bed, the Marauders had snuck out of Gryffindor tower and put their plan into action.

The prank was full of difficult spells and charms and it took them hours of casting and dodging Filtch and his troublesome cat before the prank was safely complete. The prank was set only to last one day and every three hours it would change slightly.

And so, as it was, the next morning Hogwarts woke to the sound of rain. However, when one looked outside there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Everyone soon found out that the rain was actually only in the corridors of the school and nowhere else. Any place that held furniture was unaffected, which was quite considerate considering the water damage that would have occurred if it had have been otherwise. It was also very strange weather. Every three hours exactly, the weather would change. In the morning it had been rain. Then it had changed to every small pieces of hail. Next, knee high tornados had occurred. After this, at six pm it had become foggy and by the time most people in Hogwarts were asleep, the weather inside had begun to reflect that of out side. It had begun to snow.

The end of the prank fell in line with the beginning of the second prank. That night, the boys snuck out again and set to work on the next prank. They finished a lot sooner then the night before due to less difficult spells, but the effect was just as big.

The next day when Hogwarts awoke, they definitely weren't expecting another of the Marauders pranks. They had never pulled two in a row before. When the school's occupants started making their way down to breakfast, they noticed that there was still snow from the previous night, but now there was also snowmen lining the corridors as well. Each group of snowmen did different things. Some would dance, whenever people walked by. Sometimes pulling the passers in to dance with them. Others would have snowball fights with each other; with the occasional snowball missing it's target and hitting the students instead. Some students found it amusing and joined into the snowball fights and others were simply annoyed. By the end of the second day of Prankfest, some of the teachers were starting to get irritable. This was because Filtch was endlessly complaining about all the mess that the Marauders had caused, but the professor's didn't really mind their pranks. Some had actually started to miss them. And with the upcoming holidays they found them to be perfectly justified. As long as the students still got to their classes on time and payed attention during said classes, then the professor's were happy.

On the third day of Prankfest, the occupants of Hogwarts awoke to a completely clean School. Some of the students were disappointed, believing the pranks to be over. But once they came to a set of stairs, their faith in the Marauders was renewed. The muggle born students found the new prank to be highly amusing, whereas the students who came from purely magical families found it to be quite fascinating. For once, the students found the many staircases in Hogwarts to be somewhat easier to battle. For one day only, the Marauders had turned all the main staircases in the school into magical escalators. Even Filtch didn't have anything to complain about that day. After all, the Marauders had cleaned up the mess of their last prank and the new one certainly helped with Filtch's job somewhat.

The fourth day of Prankfest was to find the school covered with signs of a green snake that sang out Slytherin insults whenever a Slytherin should walk passed.

On the fifth and last day of school it was quiet. Many people thought it was over and others kept on their guard for fear that the prank was going to be directed at them. However, the day was completely uneventful. The Marauders called it the Calm before the storm.

That night at the school feast, while Dumbledore was saying his traditional end of term farewell speech, the Marauders were passing notes. Going over one last time all the plans for the prank that night. This didn't go unnoticed by Dumbledore, who had that magical twinkle in his eyes as he clapped his hands for the feast to appear.

The Prank was quite simple really. It was a rendition of an old classic. It was a magical food fight. What better way to finish the school term? Students laughed as they threw their desert through the air. The students who didn't know the spells for throwing things, simply threw the food the old fashioned way. Throughout the whole thing, the teachers just sat back and watched. Enjoying the sight of the students acting like kids, for it wouldn't be long before it was sucked out of them with the hash realities of the real world.

Hogwarts went to bed that night truly looking forward to the holidays and the Marauders went to bed with a smile on their faces as they thought over the last week.

**Author's note: **Well, well, well, James has finally gained some common sense… wouldn't it be nice if Lily did to. All well… kinda short I know but this chapter was all about Prankfest. Again I'm starting to feel unloved… 234 hits and only 21 reviews. And to think I've been updating so frequently.


	6. Lily’s Christmas Dilemma

Unexpected Circumstances

**Chapter Five**

The train ride home was mostly spent in silence for Lily. When had things gotten like this? Her confusion and emotions were so highly strung; she didn't know how she felt half the time. Lily hated feeling this way. To think that Jam…. **Potter** –when was she going to stop using his first name? - had moved on as though completely unaffected. He was back to his old ways, tormenting the school with his childish behaviour.

So much for changing, she thought to herself. He'd actually started to make some progress. She had in fact begun to believe that maybe he could do it. Just maybe he could be a better person, but something's would never change and as long as **… Potter** sunk down to the level of a toerag, then she could never be with him…

What? When had she started thinking that way? No! It was the stress and her lack of sleep talking. James and her had nothing in common and never would. They'd never get along. She was a serious student, whereas he couldn't care less about his studies, only Quidditch and pranking - yet somehow he still always managed to come away with above average marks.

Damn Alex for putting stupid thoughts into her head. It was a good thing that she was going home for the holidays. She needed time completely to herself. Time where she could sort through all of her thoughts and conflicting emotions. By the time she got back to school, she would be back to her old self. Stress free and ready to put her original plan of how to deal with James Potter into action. She was going to ignore him!

Lily took a deep breath and sighed as she noticed the familiar hill in the distance that hid platform 9 ¾ behind it.

"Almost home," Lily said looking at the four other girls in the compartment. They were in the middle of playing a game of exploding snap. Lily had stayed out of the game. She was glad that her friends hadn't been pressuring her and had left her alone with her thoughts.

"Oh goody! Just imagine all the screaming babies when I get home. Just once I wish I could have a quiet Christmas," Hayley said with a deep sigh.

"I know what you mean. If mum doesn't let me stay home these holidays, then I won't get a moments peace either," Lily said with a somewhat forced laugh.

The girls looked at Lily sadly, but didn't get a chance to say anything to her as the train pulled to a stop at Platform 9 ¾.

Lily quickly got up and grabbed her overly large trunk and her faithful owl, Astrix, while the girls packed up their exploding snap game and gathered all of their belongings to join Lily in the crowd leaving the train.

Lily practically leapt from the train, dragging her trunk with her. An amazing feat to accomplish. Embracing her friends tightly, she said a somewhat hurried goodbye, before virtually running for the barrier to Kings Cross Station where she'd be meeting with her parents. She couldn't wait to get home and hide in the comfort of her room.

------------------

Jessica, Kyra, Hayley and Lara gazed at Lily's retreating back with looks of sadness.

"I hope she manages to sort through everything by the end of the holidays. I miss the old Lily," Lara said wistfully.

"I know what you mean," Kyra said. "She's been far too spacey the last few weeks. It's too quiet without her."

"Not to mention dreary," Jessica added.

"It's all Potters fault. I seriously think we need to take revenge. Give him a taste of his own medicine. See how he likes to be pranked," Hayley exclaimed angrily.

"That would just cause Lily to become angry with us. And besides, I don't really think that it's about the pranks anymore. If you haven't noticed, James actually has managed to change. Sure he still pulls pranks, but that's just the way he is. However, he isn't pulling them on one singular person anymore. They're more of a wide scale thing now. Enjoyable even," Jessica paused, seemingly deep in thought. "No, I think we should just stay out of this. It's between Lily and James. They need to sort themselves out. If we try to interfere it could end up only making things worse."

With that said, Jessica grabbed her trunk and bid farewell to her friends, before walking through the barrier to join with her awaiting family on the other side.

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Lily couldn't believe how easily her parents had consented to letting her stay home alone for the Christmas brake. If she'd had any idea though as to how much Petunia had been complaining profusely about Lily coming with them to visit their Grandparents, she probably wouldn't have been as shocked.

Settling down on her bed Lily finally caught a moment to herself. Only four months had passed since the last time she had been in this room, but so much had occurred in that time that it felt like it had been so much longer.

Four months ago she never would have dreamed of giving James Potter even a little bit of a chance to change her mind about him. Four months ago she'd been addiment that Potter was going to be and remain nugatory. Four months ago, she'd known where she'd stood with James Potter. Now, four months later, after having given him a chance and seeing that he really could be a good person - when he wanted to be – after becoming friends with him and then fight and go back to square one again – she really had no idea about what she was going to do with their predicament. It had been so awkward at school in those last few days before brake. How had Potter taken her confession? Knowing him he was probably still laughing it over with his friends. He was like that… wasn't he? Now she wasn't so sure.

Confusion had become a normal thing for Lily lately.

She wasn't looking forward to the end of the Christmas holidays. She didn't know how she was going to be able to keep facing Potter now that this had all happened… and what about the hogs-wallop that Alex had brought up? It was just pure hogs-wallop wasn't it? It had to. After all, her first assumption could in essence be correct. Maybe Potter had set Alex on her to get her to change her mind about him… or to make her so confused with all the thoughts running through her head that she'd make stupid conclusions and end up thinking that she did in fact love James Potter… like that would ever happen. But then, when she thought about it, the timing and schedule needed for it to work would have been very tricky. Even for the Marauders. It would have taken some serious manoeuvring to find Alex, run over everything he needed to say in order to charm and confuse Lily, and then to be able to pinpoint the exact location Lily would be at that precise moment. Not even Lily's best friends knew that the Astronomy tower was the place she went to in order to think and brood. Therefore, Alex couldn't possibly have been sent by Potter. But the again, in the years that Lily had known the Marauders and James Potter, for that matter, anything was possible.

Lily let her back fall backward to rest on her headboard. She was so sick of these thoughts running endlessly through her head, and yet she had nothing to take her mind off of it. She'd tried doing homework, and after two essays and fifty something questions later, her mind had become thoroughly bored with the whole thing, drifting back to the very thoughts that she had been trying to avoid. Television was no help either. Nothing on it even remotely interested her, the programs being either Christmas specials or soaps that only people like Petunia's would enjoy. She didn't even have anything to read. She'd already read everything in the family library at least once in her life, and unless it was new and engaging, it was very unlikely to hold her attention for very long. So there lay Lily's dilemma. She was confused to the point of nearly going mad from it, and had no way what so ever of taking her mind off of it. Lily was so desperate at this point that she would have even willingly listened to Vernon Dursley rant on about something useless and uninteresting. And that was desperate.

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**Author's Note:** It's really short, I know. I was planning on it being much longer than that, but I'm tired and really sick at the moment, so didn't want to spend all my energy on writing a few more pages and making you wonderful reviewers – those of you who do in fact review – wait a couple more days. However, I'll give you a hint as to what's coming up in the next chapter – the thing was originally supposed to be the cliffy for this chapter – It's BIG and I mean it… ok that's not really a hint is it, more like a teaser. My bad!! Well what do you guys think about Lily's dilemma? Are Alex' intentions good or bad? We of cause know about the Marauders map, could that be how James knew where to send Alex? That is, if he even sent him. – Insert evil laugh – anyway, keep reading, the next chapters going to be _good_!


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